What is the hottest temperature that water can be heated to without it evaporating?

Question

I know that boiling point is 100c, but is it possible to heat water above that level?

Answer 1

it is if it is distilled it can be "superheated". if you microwave distilled water to beyond 100c and then put a spoon in it it explodes. be careful though its hot

Answer 2

Hottest Water Temperature

Answer 3

Water will Evaporate at any Temperature. It's called the "Vapour Pressure" of Water at any Specific Temperature.
Evaporation and Vaporisation are considered to have different meanings.
At normal Atmospheric pressure, water Boils and Vaporises at 100°C (212°F).
If the pressure acting on the water is increased above atmospheric, its Boiling / Vaporising point will increase.
e.g. In a high pressure boiler at say 42 atmospheres, water will not Boil / Vaporise until it's at 252°C (486°F).
However, as the temperature is increasing, the Vapour Pressure (evaporation rate) is also increasing even though not yet at Vaporisation (Boiling) point.
Under a high vacuum of 75mmHg, water will boil and vaporise at 65°C (150°F).

Answer 4

if you are talking about pure water (for impurities in water increase the b.pt.) then perhaps the only way of having it boil at a temperature greater than 100C is to isolate a sample of pure water and increase the pressure on it. In that way water molecules find it more difficult to vapourise, therefore you are effectively increasing the boiling point.

Answer 5

You can continue to heat it past boiling - but since evaporation begins at the boiling point, that would be the point at which it evaporates. There is a phenomenon called "super heating" that occurs when you have very pure water and are boiling it in a very smooth container. You can actually heat it beyond the boiling point before evaporation starts to take place. You might have seen this happen when you have a dish of water in a microwave and you take it out thinking it is not boiling. Then it seems to "explode" when exposed to the cooler air.

Answer 6

First, many of the previous answerers have commented on your choice of wording. The word evaporating means to change from the liquid to the vapor phase. Condensing would be from vapor to liquid. If both are present, then you have equilibrium (which occurs at all temperatures). But you chose evaporating. For the purpose of your question, I'm going to assume you mean "without it boiling" instead of "without it evaporating"

The boiling point of water does depend on it's purity, like stated in some previous answers, but that is usually very very small compared to it's dependancy on pressure. Here is a phase diagram for water....

http://encarta.msn.com/media_461541579/Phase_Diagram_for_Water.html

You'll note that at 225 atm and 374C is a critical point. above which water can exist as a supercritical fluid (not shown on this plot). At slightly lower temperatures (say 373.9C) and 225 atm, water is in liquid form.

So if you mean boiling point and liquid water that is not supercritical, my answer is 374°C

one other thing. you asked very specifically if it is possible to heat water above it's boiling point. Absolutely. Water is the molecule H2O and can exist in solid, liquid, gaseous, etc phases. The boiling point is the point which water changes from liquid to gas. The gas can certainly be heated higher then the boiling point....

******* amanda and others who think water is liquid ********

Water is the molecule H2O.
it can be frozen. and it can be vaporized.
ice, frozen water, can be cooled well below the melting point of 0°C. Water vapor, likewise, can be heated well above the boiling point of 100°C. it's still water. No chemical reaction has taken place to make it not water. The change we're talking about is called a phase change.
see here...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_change
and by the way, this plot also shows that above Tc for water, water exists as a supercritical fluid....

more importantly, the question asked was, with a bit of intrepretation, "how high can water be heated without it boiling". the answer is at least 374C

Answer 7

Under pressure, the boiling point of water increases. Theoretically, the boiling point of water could be infinitely high if enough pressure is applied. This is basically how apressure cooker works. Under increased pressure, water can exist at a higher temperature without boiling. This will allow a shorter cooking time for whatever is in it.

Answer 8

do not forget approximately that wind additionally will develop evaporation. it is the reason you experience refreshed whilst that is warm and sweaty and then comes a breeze. The breeze will develop evaporation, evaporation reasons cooling because of the fact warmth will become latent warmth. additionally the shortcoming of a sturdy floor (extra interplay with oxygen interior the air) will develop evaporation, this is why we carry clothing to dry. of direction decrease rigidity reasons water to evaporate at a decrease temperature and freeze at a extra physically powerful temperature. If the rigidity is low adequate, ice will merely sublimate to gasoline and water won't exist in liquid type. including salt or any chemical ingredients to water will do the different, it is going to decrease evaporation.

Answer 9

0 C. When water is below this temperature, it is frozen and the process is then called sublimation (solid to gas).

If, however, you contain the vapor about the water as in a pressure cooker the equilibrium pressure (boiling point equivalent) will increase until the pressure exceeds the critical point of water where you can't tell the difference from a liquid and the gas state.

You should look up water's critical point.

Answer 10

The higher the pressure of gas in contact with the water the higher the temperature of the water can be before boiling. This principle is applied in many industrial processes

Answer 11

The boiling point of water depends on the atmospheric pressure. In Denver (mile high) water boils at about 94 deg C. In a pressure cooker, where the steam cannot escape the water can be heated to 120 - 130. In a superheated autoclave the temperature can get much higher. It depends on how strong your pressure vessel is.